More kids play Minecraft than build a den this summer

Children enjoying sunshine

By Diane King

Published:11:59Wednesday 31 August 2016

Today’s children could be missing out on the things their parents enjoyed during their summer holidays.

Research has found that UK children spend a third less time outside in the summer holidays compared to kids in the 1960s. Youngsters nowadays may spend an average of 4.6 hours per day playing out of doors, but in their grandparents day the daily figure was close to 7 hours.

And the figures show that more children have now played Minecraft than have experienced building a den, according to the survey by Cotton Traders.

The poll found that almost half of children aged 5-16 play Minecraft (48 per cent), while only 37 per cent have ever built a den. Other activities on the decline include paddling in a river, picking berries and hopscotch, while new activities like video games and YouTube are popular, and not just on rainy days.

It’s not just children who are missing out on fun in the summer - almost a third of parents struggle to find childcare across the summer holidays (29 per cent) and 36 per cent find it difficult to get time off work to spend with the family.

Indeed, 39 per cent of parents have had to miss out on summer events such as sports days, plays and early finishes due to work

The Cotton Traders survey (http://www.cottontraders.com/uk/page/great-british-summer), celebrating “a century of British summers”, also quizzed parents on the resorts that they would most like to return to from their childhoods.